You definitely don't need Disney to find a good hotel with a pool. In fact, in those two respects - the hotel being "good" and a pool - there are many finer options in the area than Disney's resort properties, and for a lower cost.
We also had some really bad experiences in January. Disney does not have enough staff on property, neither in the parks nor the resorts. And the staff they do have are overwhelmed, overworked, and apparently afraid to do anything about out-of-line guests. There were two times I was afraid for my family's safety due to the behavior of other guests last trip, and honestly that's a new experience for me at WDW. It didn't used to be a place where I felt I needed to be hyper aware of other people, if you know what I mean. I do believe that if Disney doesn't get a handle on the crowding that there are going to be some more "road rage" type incidents in their parks.
WBC is our current favorite, but we also like Floridays and Marriott Harbour. All remarkably better in terms of bang for buck experience. WBC and Floridays pools are better than most Disney resorts other than Yacht Beach in my opinion.
I totally agree about being hyper aware of others. We saw similar things both October and especially February where we were concerned about adult behavior. In October, during F&W, we saw absolutely horrible adult behavior and then watched CM laughing about it. We complained about a group of totally drunk and belligerent young adults dropping F-Bombs left and right around ours and other kids, throwing food, spilling drinks, and the CM's essentially blew us off and said they couldn't do anything about it...so we did, we left. We're simply less profitable than a dozen drunk kids.
That was a good reason Disney was right to not want alcohol in the parks.